HONOMU, HI – Authorities have identified the victim of a head-on collision in Honomu last month, reports the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Hawaii Island police said the woman killed in the Feb. 26 incident was 48-year-old Marcella Tellez, a California resident.
Investigators said the driver of a 2019 Ford pickup truck was heading north on Mamalahoa Highway and overtaking other vehicles at about 6:07 p.m. The Ford collided with a 2023 Kia sedan that was traveling south towards Hilo, causing the sedan to catch fire.
Tellez, a passenger in the front seat of the Kia, was trapped in the vehicle. Once the fire was extinguished, she was taken to Hilo Medical Center and pronounced dead.
The driver of the Kia, a 22-year-old man, was treated at Queens Medical Center and is in critical but stable condition. The Ford driver, a 35-year-old Papaaloa man, was in stable condition at the same hospital.
The Hawaii Police Department’s East Hawaii Traffic Enforcement Unit is conducting a negligent homicide investigation.
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